Girls Basketball: Upper Dublin outlasts Norristown

UPPER DUBLIN — Any game within the Suburban One American Division is competitive, but things get taken to the next level when the top two teams square off. At the end of fierce battle, it was the Lady Cardinals experience that earned them the win and kept their perfect conference record intact.

“The magnitude of the game was high,” Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten said. “Our girls and their girls were aware of the stakes: if Norristown wins, we are tied for the conference. We win the game, now we have a two-game cushion. We shot poorly tonight, but what impresses me about this team is that they can win pretty or ugly.”

Upper Dublin overcame poor shooting in the first half to down Norristown 36-28. Holding a potent Norristown offense to under 30 points, the Lady Cardinals showed exactly why they are one of the top teams in the area. Led by Curtrena Goff’s 10 points, Upper Dublin took full control of the division. However, Norristown can hold their heads high, as the Lady Eagles gave 16-1 Upper Dublin all they could handle.

“I’ll keep emphasizing our defensive effort,” Funsten said. “To give up on 28 points is great against this team. It seemed like both teams didn’t want to speed the game put because they were nervous about what the other team’s strengths were.”

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The first half was marred by poor shooting. Both defenses came up with steals and stops, but way too many three-pointers and layups were missed. It took Upper Dublin over four minutes to find their first points of the first and second quarters. This made for a tight game, however, because both teams scored in spurts and no run went on for longer than the other team could handle. There were two buzzer beaters in the first half, a three-ball by Upper Dublin’s Brianna Spector to give the Lady Cardinals a three point lead heading into the second quarter, and Pattie Fortescue’s mid-ranger jumper that knotted the game at 17’s right before halftime.

“The game was extremely intense, but this is what basketball’s all about,” Norristown coach Ashlee Harrison said. “From the beginning to the end, our girls gave relentless effort. I’m really proud of how the girls played, Upper Dublin is just more experienced than us.”

After another quarter with stout defense from both sides, Norristown had a 24-22 lead at the start of the final period. The fourth quarter is often what separates on good team from another and Upper Dublin showed their poise and experience in this game. Outscoring Norristown14-4 in the fourth, the Lady Cardinals showed that their division lead was not going to be handed over easily. Upper Dublin only scored three field goals but went 8-9 from the charity stripe, a symbol of a veteran team.

“It was pretty neat that all three of our senior starters (Goff, Spector and Lauren Rothfeld) hit big foul shots for us down the stretch, can’t write a better script than that. We just had a tough stretch, five games in seven days, this was by far the toughest stretch of our schedule. Our confidence in there; it’s nice to have a cushion, maybe we can enjoy the success a bit now.”

Norristown, who is now 10-5 and 7-2 in conference, will no doubt be upset they lost, but cannot be mad about how they played the league leaders. To hold a team who has scored 60-plus points on more than a couple occasions this season to under 40 and come close to a win says something. There is no such thing as moral losses, but this comes close for the Lady Eagles.

“I hope the way they played gives them a huge confidence boost,” Harrison said. “We are a good team and I try to tell my girls that they need know that they can hang with the better teams in the area. If this wasn’t a confidence builder, I don’t know what is.”